114 Politics and Geopolitics
in Greece.^39 Regarding such questions, we are, at least for the time being, left
to guess.
Five things can, nonetheless, be assumed. First, in the period between the
original Spartan conquest and their seventh-century revolt, the Messenians
were a tributary people—from whom the Lacedaemonian aristocrats, operat-
ing as raiders, extracted one-half of their harvest every year. Second, after the
Second Messenian War, ritualized aristocratic raiding gave way to direct rule
and systematic exploitation, and equal allotments of land were assigned indi-
vidual Spartan hoplites. Third, by the time that the seventh-century revolt was
fully over, these allotments were farmed largely by Messenians reduced to the
status of helots, and a quantum had replaced the earlier quota—with a rent in
kind, specified by Spartan law, owed each allotment’s proprietor.^40 Fourth,
there were overseers—drawn, at least in part, from the Spartan population—
who made sure that the work got done and that the produce was delivered;^41
and fifth, west of Mount Taygetus there were substantial Spartan garrisons.
This last point needs emphasis. Lacedaemon could not have retained her
hold over so large a population situated in nucleated settlements on so vast a
territory had she not continually and forcefully made her presence felt. More-
over, in the mountainous areas within Messenia and on its borders, which
were sizable, there was ample territory in which runaways could hide and
form gangs of bandits capable, if the lowlands were left unpoliced, of foment-
ing unrest. Pausanias’ reports, suggesting the importance of guerrilla warfare,
should not be rejected out of hand. Given the nature of the terrain, it would
be surprising were this not so. Here again, an absence of evidence should not
be interpreted as evidence of absence. If we know next to nothing concerning
the administrative apparatus that Lacedaemon deployed for the purpose of
retaining her hold on this rich province, it is because of the policy of secrecy
identified by Thucydides.^42
The Spartan Alliance
As was only natural, when the Spartans had finally arranged matters in
Messenia to their own satisfaction, they turned to Arcadia, their neighbor to
the north. Initially, however, they did not enjoy good fortune. Theopompus of
Chios tells of their loss of a battle off in the direction of Arcadian Orchom-
enos,^43 and they had even worse luck when they tried to subjugate Tegea.
When the Lacedaemonians—eager for the conquest of Arcadia and intent